My photographic journey

A short tale of my passion for photography and the September highlights.

I treated myself for my last birthday and got myself a mirrorless camera. I’ve always been passionate about photography; I’ve been saving for my first DSLR for a long time and got it when I was 14. Then I slightly neglected the ritual of taking camera whenever and wherever I could. I sold my camera and was predominantly taking pictures with my phone.

Before we get to the highlights of the first month of shooting, I wanted to share the reasons why I decided to take up photography yet again.

#1 Creative platform

I work in the creative industry. I’m expected to be creative. Creativity doesn’t come from nowhere. You have to be constantly looking for inspiration around you. One of the biggest reasons why I chose to pick up the camera again was because I wanted to grow creatively. See the world through lenses and notice things that were left unnoticed in the rush of everyday activities. My blogs helps me share my thoughts and opinion with written word, my Instagram does the same in the visual form.

#2 Storytelling practice

Another hugely important part of my job is to tell stories. There are many ways of doing so; the messages can be conveyed via words on paper, or audio on podcasts. I decided to practise visual storytelling in my spare time. Photography helps me freeze moments and tell the story with composition, exposure, and colours.

#3 Challenge

For my first month I decided I’ll be posting to Instagram on daily basis. I wasn’t able to shoot every single day, but I did at least a couple of times a week. My Instagram page has seen a new picture every day throughout September. Occasionally I posted twice a day.

Another part of the challenge was not being overly cliché with my work. I didn’t always succeed. Living in London gives a lot of opportunities for great pictures. But places such as Westminster has been captured thousands of times. Big Ben and Westminster Bridge did appear on my feed on a few occasions.

Highlights

It’s been a great experience to go out there and shoot. The below are some shots I wanted to share.

The first picture

This couldn’t have been different. Tate Modern in Bankside is one of my favourite places in London. Potentially in the universe. I was walking with my newly bought camera next to it and saw a plane passing the Tate sign on the very top of the building. This was my first shot uploaded to my feed.

My favourite pictures

The picture of one of my favourite London sights — the Shard. It’s especially hard to get pictures at night. This one took me a couple of attempts and I needed to wait for a couple of minutes until my camera exposed the scene. It was very much worth it.

The golden hour is the time before sunset or after sunrise, when the colours are looking the most beautifully. This is considered by one of the best times to shoot. This picture was shot the moments before the sun went down in Canary Wharf. My favourite part of this picture is the visible City in the background.

The least favourite picture

One of the most important things when trying to improve in any discipline is being critical. You need to see the weaknesses in order to grow. In hindsight, the picture shot around St Paul’s Cathedral isn’t one of my favourites. It wasn’t particularly original either. Many people before me have shot One New Change shopping centre view. Technically, it’s also slightly dark and weirdly tilted. It’s not my best work, but it surely taught me something.

The most creative post (well, in my humble opinion)

This post looks much better on the mobile version of Instagram, but it’s essentially a wide shot of More London, the are in London Bridge, that I sliced into three parts. In order to view the whole image, you have to swipe through it. It took me a while to figure out how to edit it, but I really enjoyed the final result!

Picture that appeared on my feed today is one of my favourites. The legendary Tower Bridge sometimes opens to let the bigger ships get through. I’ve only seen the whole process once. A couple days ago, I noticed Tower opening, and I had my camera with me. I spotted it from a mile away. I was so determined to take a snap from up-close that I started running. I probably beat one of my personal records. Ploughing through the rain, tourists and the slippery pavement of Lower Thames Street I managed to get to the still opened Tower.

All in all, it’s been an interesting month. I’ve learnt a lot from sharing my work every day. I’ve been capturing moments and slowly becoming a better storyteller. Also, I’m not giving up posting on a daily basis, yet! I wonder if I can make it 100 days now?

If you have any suggestions, would like to guest post or give me a feedback, feel free to email me at kl.marcel [at] gmail.com, tweet me @marcelkl or connect with me on LinkedIn. Thanks for stopping by, have a splendid day!

Author: Marcel Klebba

Junior account executive at a global PR agency, working across the corporate & B2B accounts. Interested in current affairs, tech, and digital.